Poor defense down the stretch, poor execution of shots in crunch-time, too many turnovers, subpar rebounding. It’s been the same story for the 5-6 Bulls, and Thibodeau again was trying a different look in the final few minutes of the game. He got the same results he did in Los Angeles and Portland.

“The defense is not what it used to be,’’ center Joakim Noah said. “It’s not where it was last year, that’s for sure. We’ve got to do better. We just got to do better. Losing three in a row is unacceptable. We’re better than that.

“We’ve just got to trust each other a little bit more on the court. We’ve got to play together a little bit more. We’re a team that’s always been great at executing down the stretch, and we’re not in the right position. It’s frustrating.’’